Close To The Truth
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Oneshot following Way of the Samurai. Mia and Emily run into Spike at the supermarket and his crush on the pink Ranger gets him a little too close to the truth.


_Disclaimer: I do not own anything._

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><p>"No, Emy."<p>

"Please!"

"I will stuff you into the kiddie seat," Mia pointed to the baby seat in the shopping cart as she glared at the yellow Ranger. "Put the cookies back. We don't need them. I made some last week with Kevin, remember."

"Mike ate all of those," Emily crossed her arms. "They were surprisingly good."

"Surprisingly?"

"You know what I mean," Emily placed the cookies back on the shelf. She knew she wasn't going to get her way this time. When Mia was grocery shopping for the house, there was always a list and a budget and whatever wasn't on the list and didn't fit in the budget wasn't going home. "Where to next?"

"Bread," Mia gestured to the bread aisle. Emily grinned and hopped up on the front of the shopping cart. Mia glared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh and pushing the cart, and Emily, over to the bread aisle. Just as she turned the corner she felt the cart rattling furiously in her hands and she heard Emily squealing as the yellow Ranger hopped off.

"Are you okay?" she asked her little sister as she glared at the tip of the cart that had run into hers. It had been shooting down the aisle so quickly she hadn't had the time to avoid it. Emily nodded her head but then started to smile at the owner.

"Spike!"

"Emily!" the cart was ditched and Spike swallowed Emily in a hug. Mia found it was a little awkward, given Spike and Emily barely knew each other, but she shrugged it off.

When Spike let go he looked at the smaller girl, "Are you okay?" he asked her. "Last time I saw you, you were kidnapped by that crazy sword guy. It was during the fake Ranger incident, remember?"

"Yeah," Emily giggled. It felt like so long ago. "I'm fine."

"She had us worried," Mia nodded. "Thankfully the real Rangers know what they're doing, huh, Emy?"

"Yeah."

"The real pink Ranger really told off the fakers," Spike said, beginning to lose himself in a daydream until Emily snapped her fingers, pulling him back to reality. He shook his head and looked at Emily, "You should have been there to see it!"

"If it's anything like when Mia gets angry, I think I've seen enough," Emily giggled as she cast a sideways glance at Mia. The pink Ranger rolled her eyes. That was when Spike turned to her. He had a goofy love-sick grin on his face and the girl in his mind changed from the Pink Ranger to Mia. Mia knew what was coming next and held up her left hand, showing Spike the ring.

"Sorry, kid. Engaged."

"You're still pretty," Spike babbled uncontrollably while Emily giggled. She looked at Mia and made a heart with her hands. The pink Ranger glared at Emily and gestured for her to stop before Spike saw, though there was no danger there. He was completely lost in fantasy.

Now it was starting to get a little awkward for Mia. She pointed down the bread aisle, "You know, you two seem like good friends. You probably have a lot of catching up to do. How about you both stay here while I finish getting what's on my list?"

"I… no… but…" Spike reached out for Mia as she slipped past him to have a look at the bread, leaving the cart with Emily for a quick escape. Emily was still giggling and had to reach out and hold Spike back so he wouldn't go after Mia.

"Maybe you didn't hear her. She's engaged," Emily tried to let him down gently. "You're a sweet kid, but you… kind of don't have a shot. I hate to say it."

"I can't help who I like," Spike shrugged, his eyes still on Mia as she scanned all the different types of bread. "It really doesn't help that she's always wearing my favourite colour."

"Your favourite colour?" Emily asked with a frown. Spike turned to her and nodded his head.

"Pink. Like the pink Ranger. She's so pretty too!"

Emily chuckled again, "Spike, have you ever seen the pink Ranger's face?"

Spike's face fell and he shook his head sadly, only causing Emily to giggle even more.

"Then how do you know she's pretty?" she asked the younger boy. "She could be… a man for all you know."

"A man in pink spandex?" Spike frowned.

"Maybe," Emily shrugged. She would have to ask Mia about that one later. Surely, throughout the centuries there had to of been at least one man in Mia's family who had taken up the pink Samurai powers. Emily knew, a long, long time ago there was one male yellow. It was entirely possible.

Spike shook his head. "No way. She's a she. I'm sure about that. Besides, she has a skirt."

"Good point," Emily nodded.

"You know what would be amazing?" Spike's voice was back in fantasy mode and Emily could tell she was losing him again. His eyes strayed back to Mia. "What if she's always wearing pink because she was the pink Ranger?"

Emily's eyes widened for a moment before she regained her composure. She turned to Spike with a disbelieving look and shook her head.

"No way. I know Mia. Trust me; she's not the pink Ranger."

This time it was Spike who wasn't convinced, "Really? Are you sure? I mean, if she was the pink Ranger, she wouldn't tell you, right? Secret identities and all."

"Uh…"

Spike glanced down at Emily, "You know… she's always wearing pink when I see her and you're…"

"I'm what?" Emily quickly looked down at her yellow shirt. Busted.

"You're," Spike shook his head and waved his hand, "Never mind."

"What?" Emily frowned. "What am I?"

"I was going to say you're always wearing yellow but… that doesn't mean anything."

"Hey! How come Mia gets to be a Power Ranger but not me?" Emily huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I could be a Power Ranger."

"Maybe, but you were kidnapped, remember?"

"So?"

"So, I just… are you a Power Ranger?"

Emily winced and hesitated. She hated lying, "Uh, no."

"There. Problem solved," Spike shrugged. He saw Bulk waving him over from the checkout and realised his Uncle had been waiting for him to bring the cart over so they could ring up what they wanted to buy. He gave Emily a quick smile. "Well, I got to go. I'm glad to see you're okay after the whole fake Ranger thing."

"Bye, Spike," Emily waved goodbye to her friend as he took off. When he was gone she grabbed the shopping cart and pulled it over to a waiting Mia. She glared at her pink friend.

"You owe me cookies now."

"What? Says who?" Mia dumped the bread in her arms into the cart and took it from Emily before the yellow Ranger crashed it into a shelf.

"Apparently people can believe you're the pink Ranger. But not me."

"Who believes what?" Mia frowned.

"Spike and his double crush on you and the pink Ranger," Emily pointed down the aisle and Mia could see Spike at the checkout with his Uncle. Emily glared at her older sister, "his fantasies are getting really, really close to the truth! I had to convince him otherwise."

"Wait, he thinks I'm the pink Ranger?"

Emily nodded her head, "Wishful thinking… but… you and I know…"

"You convinced him otherwise, right?"

"I think so. I mean, I kind of changed the topic when he told me he didn't think I was yellow Ranger material."

Mia sighed heavily, "Great. Now I've got to keep my eye on that boy."

"Spike's harmless," Emily argued. "It wouldn't hurt to let him fantasise, right?"

"Emy, the more he fantasises, the more he's going to look for hints that aren't there," Mia said. "Only, in our case, they will be there."

"Then give me the pink Samuraizer for a couple of battles," Emily chuckled. "Or, better yet, let one of the guys take it! Half of Jayden's clothes are already pink."

Mia pinched the bridge of her nose, "Emy… if I let you get the cookies will you shut up?"

Emily nodded her head happily and Mia waved her off.

"Fine, then. Go."

"Yay!"


End file.
